If you’ve been in our gym you’ll notice that, while we don’t have traditional machines like you’d see in a big box gym, we do have a lot of different tools. We in the fitness industry call these tools “modalities,” but we’ll use the word “tools” for the sake of not sounding… well, like tools.

Some tools you’ll see in our gym:

TRX straps

TRX’s Rip Trainer

DVRT’s Ultimate Sandbags

Medicine Balls

Kettlebells

BOSU Balls

Dumbbells

Foam Rollers (Woohoo!)

and our BELOVED Sled (“beloved” is up for debate by some of our clients)

When you look at the list (which is just a selection of what we offer) you might wonder just why you need all these tools. They all provide different and specific offerings. For example, TRX’s Rip Trainer is great for training rotational movements, and TRX straps allow someone to gain a sense of balance before we load them up with weights such as dumbbells or sandbags. I won’t go into all of their offerings here, but ask any coach in our gym and they can give you an explanation of just why we would use a sandbag versus a barbell for a specific exercise - and vice versa, why a barbell might be better than a sandbag for another exercise.

Also, different tools allow you to progress people safely. For example, before we hand someone a kettlebell during a single leg Romanian dead lift, we might have them do that same exercise using the TRX straps. Pressing down into the TRX straps during the exercise allows them to stabilize themselves and really understand HOW the movement should feel. You master the movement and then progress it by adding weight.

One common goal that all the tools share: they were all created to help you move better and to feel stronger - kind of like our goal at the gym!